Customer Reviews

Being There (Widescreen)

5 star:		(104)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

great film, peter sellers is awesome in the lead and really makes you wonder... i recommend it to all, in fact i recommend it to all schools as mandatory so all kids could experience the life of a butler... stay in school kids!

Being There (1979)
Drama, Comedy, 130 minutes
Directed by Hal Ashby
Starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine and Melvyn Douglas

Being There is an unusual movie which is told in an understated way. The events unfold slowly and the viewer is left to reflect on any meaning. Peter Sellers stars as Chance. He tends the garden of an old man and is left homeless when the man dies. The relationship is never explained. Is he the man's son?

The story takes off when Chance leaves the comfort of the only surroundings he has ever known and enters the real world. He is a simple man and apparently doesn't understand the concept of lying. When someone tells him anything, he takes it literally. He suffers a minor injury when a car hits him and the owner, Eve (MacLaine), offers to have him checked out by her doctor.

Although Chance knows nothing of the real world and just talks about his former job as a gardener, others take his words to heart and think that he's using metaphors. It's funny to see how much of an impact his innocent remarks have on the people around him.

Sellers was nominated for his performance and Melvyn Douglas won an Oscar for his portrayal of Eve's dying husband.

Seeing this film again after so many years really made me appreciate just what a marvelous actor Peter Sellers was. We lost the Master very suddenly and there will never be anyone like him.

Playing a straight-man is hard work, especially when he must also play the part with such innocence and subdued intelligence. What makes this so entertaining are the reactions of those around "Chance" (or Chauncy) particularly the President and his cohorts. It's beautiful that only one person is actually "clued in" by the end of the film, and he's smart enough to leave well enough alone.

I won't give anything away here, suffice to say this is the pinnacle of Peter Sellers's skills as an actor, as clearly illustrated by the one scene's outtakes during the credits. It was the only scene that he could not do with a straight face and shows just how much of a character Peter Sellers truly was.

Enjoy the film. :-)

My wife and I tend to quote lines from this wonderful movie, much like I do on the golf course with Caddy Shack lines. As Caddy Shack is to golf, Being There is to life: a delightful comedy but with meaning.

I discovered this film only 7 years ago when I caught the Peter Sellers Bug after watching "The Party".

This film is easily one of the best films to ever hit the silver screen. It will move you in such a way that you will be left speachless and quiet for a couple of hours after it's done. The film is loaded with wonderful hidden themes and messages that really cause the viewer to question the world around them in a very good a positive way.

The writing and producing is top notch, and in my opinion simply "Brilliant."

Peter Sellers character is that of Chauncey(Chance)Gardiner. He is an innocently reclusive individual who has spent his entire life confined to the inside of one single house without any knowledge of the outside world or that it even exists. Being raised since birth by the "old man" and the household Maid, His duties are to simply take care of the garden in the back yard and do some light cleaning duties around the house. When the old man suddenly dies and the deed of the house is taken by a law firm, Chauncey finds himself alone with nothing more than several TV sets that are spread out in various parts of the house.

He is soon forced to leave the safe and familiar confines of this house and venture out into the world. Armed only with a TV remote control Chauncey steps out of the front door of the house for the very first time in his life to discover a very real and different world than the one he has only seen on television sets. This sequence is set brilliantly without any spoken word to a Disco/funk version of 2010 a space odyssey by Brazillian musician Deodato.

Chauncey eventually makes his way to a department store window that is selling TV sets where he uses his remote control to change the channels and watch TV (this is the only thing that makes him feel safe in this strange and new world he has ventured into). It is here that the story takes off when by accident he meets the wife of Ailing Billionaire Benjamin Rand who takes him back to her Mansion.

Once he arrives at the mansion is where the Acting Genius of Peter Sellers really takes hold of the viewer and you get drawn right into the wonderfuly brilliant world of Chauncey Gardiner. His character throughout the film simply represents innocence in its purest form, and as the film progresses you develop a deep respect and understanding of him. The film depicts how corrupt and greedy the heart of man is, and yet it shows how an innocent and sinless man (Chauncey Gardiner) can deliver mankind out of the darkness and back into the light.

The final scene in the movie will leave you speachless. As the screen goes black you litteraly sit there in awe of what you just witnessed. This film no doubt is one of the best films to EVER be be created. 5 STARS and 2 Big Thumbs Up! The final scene actually sent shivers up my spine the first time I saw it and gave me goose bumps....But in a very positive way.

Peter Sellers gives the best performance of his entire career in this masterpiece called "Being There"

I discovered this film only 7 years ago when I caught the Peter Sellers Bug after watching "The Party".

This film is easily one of the best films to ever hit the silver screen. It will move you in such a way that you will be left speachless and quiet for a couple of hours after it's done. The film is loaded with wonderful hidden themes and messages that really cause the viewer to question the world around them in a very good a positive way.

The writing and producing is top notch, and in my opinion simply "Brilliant."

Peter Sellers character is that of Chauncey(Chance)Gardiner. He is an innocently reclusive individual who has spent his entire life confined to the inside of one single house without any knowledge of the outside world or that it even exists. Being raised since birth by the "old man" and the household Maid, His duties are to simply take care of the garden in the back yard and do some light cleaning duties around the house. When the old man suddenly dies and the deed of the house is taken by a law firm, Chauncey finds himself alone with nothing more than several TV sets that are spread out in various parts of the house.

He is soon forced to leave the safe and familiar confines of this house and venture out into the world. Armed only with a TV remote control Chauncey steps out of the front door of the house for the very first time in his life to discover a very real and different world than the one he has only seen on television sets. This sequence is set brilliantly without any spoken word to a Disco/funk version of 2010 a space odyssey by Brazillian musician Deodato.

Chauncey eventually makes his way to a department store window that is selling TV sets where he uses his remote control to change the channels and watch TV (this is the only thing that makes him feel safe in this strange and new world he has ventured into). It is here that the story takes off when by accident he meets the wife of Ailing Billionaire Benjamin Rand who takes him back to her Mansion.

Once he arrives at the mansion is where the Acting Genius of Peter Sellers really takes hold of the viewer and you get drawn right into the wonderfuly brilliant world of Chauncey Gardiner. His character throughout the film simply represents innocence in its purest form, and as the film progresses you develop a deep respect and understanding of him. The film depicts how corrupt and greedy the heart of man is, and yet it shows how an innocent and sinless man (Chauncey Gardiner) can deliver mankind out of the darkness and back into the light.

The final scene in the movie will leave you speachless. As the screen goes black you litteraly sit there in awe of what you just witnessed. This film no doubt is one of the best films to EVER be be created. 5 STARS and 2 Big Thumbs Up! The final scene actually sent shivers up my spine the first time I saw it and gave me goose bumps....But in a very positive way.

Peter Sellers gives the best performance of his entire career in this masterpiece called "Being There"

Sellers plays a man who is a complete blank, seemingly mentally handicapped, having spent his whole life working as a
gardener, his only real enjoyment being watching TV. Through a wonderfully creative series of coincidences, he soon has
Washington's elite read into his simplistic pronouncements whatever they want to hear, and the next thing you know he's
an advisor to the President, and winning over TV audiences.

This could have been a one-joke film, but the terrific writing and directing, and the simply magical performance by Peter Sellers
make this deep, complex, and moving. There's great supporting work too by Shirley McLain and Melvyn Douglas. Jack Warden
overdoes the doofus bit a little as the US president, and there are a couple of moments where the jokes feel forced, but this
is as funny and socially incisive a US film as has been made in the last 30 years.

Sellers plays a man who is a complete blank, seemingly mentally handicapped, having spent his whole life working as a
gardener, his only real enjoyment being watching TV. Through a wonderfully creative series of coincidences, he soon has
Washington's elite read into his simplistic pronouncements whatever they want to hear, and the next thing you know he's
an advisor to the President, and winning over TV audiences.

This could have been a one-joke film, but the terrific writing and directing, and the simply magical performance by Peter Sellers
make this deep, complex, and moving. There's great supporting work too by Shirley McLain and Melvyn Douglas. Jack Warden
overdoes the doofus bit a little as the US president, and there are a couple of moments where the jokes feel forced, but this
is as funny and socially incisive a US film as has been made in the last 30 years.

Sellers plays a man who is a complete blank, seemingly mentally handicapped, having spent his whole life working as a
gardener, his only real enjoyment being watching TV. Through a wonderfully creative series of coincidences, he soon has
Washington's elite read into his simplistic pronouncements whatever they want to hear, and the next thing you know he's
an advisor to the President, and winning over TV audiences.

This could have been a one-joke film, but the terrific writing and directing, and the simply magical performance by Peter Sellers
make this deep, complex, and moving. There's great supporting work too by Shirley McLain and Melvyn Douglas. Jack Warden
overdoes the doofus bit a little as the US president, and there are a couple of moments where the jokes feel forced, but this
is as funny and socially incisive a US film as has been made in the last 30 years.

I was so thrilled to find this on Amazon....could not find anywhere else. Best movie ever!

Arrived quickly and exactly as displayed in ad. Really pleased!